FAMILY, friends and members of Moncrieff and Blairlogie united free churches said their goodbyes to Jean Armstrong, who had served her community for many years.

Those present on Monday, November 28, remembered Jean’s great love for her family and friends, her passion for travel and her ministry, and her love for children and young people.

Jean was also the widow of Sam Armstrong, former minister and pastor of the congregations from 1982 to 1993.

She served with her husband in the newly-created joint charge of Moncrieff and Blairlogie for some 11 years until their retirement from the ministry in 1993, serving with energy and warmth to all those in need within and out with the congregation.

In her own right Jean was well known and respected in the local community having worked as a nurse for many years in Alloa Community Hospital, Stirling Royal Infirmary and a number of local nursing homes, before retiring from the profession in 2004.

Jean was also a popular and entertaining speaker at women’s meetings across the central belt of Scotland and had spoken both nationally and internationally on the issue of faith and family.

She was known for her care and compassion which she put into practice on a daily basis as a nurse. 

She had a real love for all she came into contact with and genuinely cared for the most vulnerable within the congregation, practising what she preached, and setting a real example of what it meant to love your neighbour as yourself.

Devoted to her family and friends, Jean was one of six siblings born on a small rural farm in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.

She studied at the Faith Mission Bible College in Edinburgh and served in a number of rural communities across Scotland and Ireland in the 50s before marrying Sam Armstrong in 1960.

They moved permanently to Scotland in 1961 to join the United Free Church of Scotland. 

Over the years they worked with congregations and communities in Glasgow, Whifflet, West Calder, Alloa and Blairlogie.

She passed away peacefully at Forth Valley Royal Hospital after a short illness on Monday, November 21, and is survived by her six children and 10 grandchildren.